Saving Maura
by SarahShalomDavid
Summary: AU. 38-year-old Doctor Maura Isles is a lecturer at BCU where she is teaching a Forensic Pathology unit for Criminology students which includes 22-year-old Jane Rizzoli. Maura is hiding something from her family and colleagues... What happens when her student discovers her secret? WARNING: Domestic Violence and Alcoholism.
1. Rules of University

Doctor Maura Isles had been a lecturer at BCU for almost three years and was in charge of one of the units for the Criminology course where she taught students about forensic pathology, she was also in charge of running various other units at the university in her specialised field. She enjoyed her work but found herself wanting to make more of a difference in the world. The thirty eight year old honey blonde woman was stood in front of the class with the large projection screen behind her and the computer beside her on a large metal desk. The woman wore a pair of designer heels with a navy blue Alexander McQueen dress whilst her hair cascaded loosely down the sides of her face in slight waves.

It was the first week of University and the first lecture that they had for the unit. The students who had opted to take the unit were talking amongst themselves and discussing their summer vacations after having not seen much of each other over the past few months. They were starting their second year of their three year course which meant that the excitement of freshers was long gone and the real work had to begin.

Maura stood awkwardly at the front of the room, fiddling with her platinum wedding ring on her finger and waiting for the clock to strike five minutes past the hour because that was the official starting time for the lectures. This enabled the students to move between lectures and seminars as well as for lecturers to do the same. It was also the time that she would stop students entering her lecture theatre because she believed that punctuality was one of the most important things there were but also because she knew that students coming in late often distracted others from their work and it would be rather frustrating.

Doctor Isles observed her students for a while; a blonde man was waving his arms around to emphasise his point although Maura couldn't understand what he was trying to say, a number of people were on their phones and to the left of the room, one third of the way back was a dark haired woman whose back was turned to the lecturer. Her dark curls fell down her back in thick waves and she wore dark jeans, knee high black leather boots and a wine coloured shirt. She was talking to the man beside her and the two men who were behind them.

"If you'd like to take your seats and then we'll begin", the lecturer said softly to the students that were in her lecture hall as some were on desks, some on chairs and a couple of them were still standing. As the students began to settle into their seats and pull out their notebooks along with writing instruments to use, she continued to speak, "My name is Doctor Maura Isles and I will be teaching you for this unit", she said politely whilst standing at the front, her eyes glancing over at various students and attempting to make contact with each and every one at least once to try and remember their faces, "I don't believe I have met any of you before as I don't teach first year students, only second and third". Most of the students seemed to be listening although a couple still hadn't pulled out their notebooks in preparation for the lecture and a few weren't taking notice of their lecturer and instead were on their phones.

The dark haired woman with knee high boots was sat on her chair, leaning back with her legs up on the table however she was listening, didn't have her phone out and also she had a notebook and pen on the desk beside her boots. "There will be a few rules to my lectures", Maura began cautiously, "I will not have lateness in my lectures which means that you will be here by five minutes past the hour or I will not permit you entrance to my lecture hall". A few of the students looked at each other whilst wondering if their teacher was actually serious, "Every lecture ends at five minutes to the hour so that you can get to your next one by five minutes past the hour, so there is no excuse to be late", she said firmly, "If you miss a lecture then the slideshow will be online and you will be able to access them in your own time however not everything will be on the website so please don't use that as an excuse not to come to lectures". The dark haired woman smiled in slight amusement at that last part which in turn made the lecturer smile. "I don't like phones in my lectures although I do acknowledge that you may need to have them on for things such as childcare and in that case I would appreciate that they remain on silent and that you not use them during the lectures unless it is an emergency", she said with a slight smile, "If you have a question then feel free to put your hand up and I will get to you as soon as possible. However if we run out of time then you may email me your questions and I will get back to you as soon as I am able to". She glanced around the lecture theatre at the students before continuing, "If you wish to eat or drink in my lecture please feel free to as I know that some of you have rather full days…", she said as she explained the importance of eating breakfast which was why she allowed eating in her nine am lecture slot.

After explaining the few rules she stepped back to the metal desk for a moment and picked up her coffee cup to take a sip before placing it back down on the metal surface. It was now almost twenty minutes into the lecture time and she was explaining the syllabus for the unit when four students decided to wander in late, she looked up at the students with a rather unimpressed expression upon her face and the other students were watching to see what she would do. "You're late", she stated in a short but sharp tone whilst remaining polite.

The students that had entered late mumbled things such as 'I'm sorry', and 'We'll be earlier next time' but Doctor Isles simply sighed, "This will be the only time you will ever be permitted into my lecture hall late", she stated, "You will be here by five minutes past the hour or you will not be allowed into the lecture". Despite appearing a little shocked at the strict concept that the woman has proposing, the students sat down after finding seats for themselves.


	2. Home Late

**A/N WARNING: Mentions of Domestic Violence and Alcoholism**

BCU students had been back in classes for one week now and that meant that all lectures and seminars were running properly which made it much busier for both lecturers and students.

Maura rather enjoyed getting to know her students although the majority didn't speak much to her as they found her tendency to spurt out facts frustrating and not many were keen on her topic of study. She had however found a student that was willing to listen to her and didn't judge her when she began to spurt out facts at an alarming rate. That student was Jane Rizzoli. The young woman had signed up to become Doctor Isles' assistant as it was a position open only to students and would pay basic wage whilst being able to fit it in around their studies. Jane needed the job so that she could top up the funding that she had gotten from her scholarship.

It was late by the time Maura got home from the University, the sky was dark and the street lamps had been on for a couple of hours now. She was late home because she had agreed to meet with various students after lectures had finished so that she could go over the unit with them and help with any issues they were having with the start of the academic year, as well as the paperwork that she had to complete and the lecture plans that she needed to arrange.

She parked her car in the driveway of her home in Beacon Hill, turning off the engine she bit her lip nervously and glanced up at the house. The lights were on downstairs signalling that her husband was home. She bit her lip nervously and glanced at the clock, noting that it said 21:53 she sighed heavily and was rather hesitant to enter her own home. Her husband; Ian Faulkner would either be angry at her for being late home, drunk and angry or drunk and passed out. She found herself hoping for the latter. She hoped that he would be passed out because she simply didn't feel that she had the energy for yet another argument.

They had been married for almost two years and for the past 18 months he had found something wrong with everything she did. She had worked in Africa with him for five years and at the end of her contract they got engaged. The plan had been that Ian would continue working abroad although he would visit Boston where Maura had been given the position at BCU but it didn't turn out that way because after a one year engagement and six months into their marriage, it began to fall apart. Ian lost his job and began to take it out on Maura whilst using the bottle to drown his sorrows.

At first she thought she had the fairytale, as she hadn't had much experience with relationships due to her dedication to her career path. She had worked with various foundations and companies all over the world in the years since leaving university.

Gradually she opened the door of the car and gently placed her heeled foot onto the gravel of the driveway. She felt the slight chill of the night through her blouse and blazer as she found herself wishing that she hadn't forgotten her coat in her office. She took a deep breath and stepped fully out of the car before she closed the door behind her and clicked the key fob in order to lock it. The night was almost silent, the only sound that could be heard was her high heels crunching on the gravel beneath her feet and the occasional car in the distance.

She slid her key into the lock of her front door, the home that although they both lived in together actually belonged solely to her. She flicked her wrist in a motion to unlock the door and tugged on the handle to open it before extracting her key from the lock. Maura listened out to the slightest of noises, her heartbeat had increased and she felt herself perspiring slightly, both out of fear and nervousness. _Please be asleep_ , she begged silently to herself, _Please._ She was desperate for him to be asleep simply out of the fear that he would yet again raise his voice to her or worse… raise his fist again. That was his latest thing. It had been six months since he first hit her and at first it was incredibly rare but as time went on it increased. Now he had attacked her physically three times in the past week alone. It terrified her and she wanted to leave him but she simply didn't have the confidence to leave and found herself believing his excuses as well as believing his apologies.

The woman turned and closed the door behind her whilst silently praying for him to be asleep so that she could have a peaceful night and simply go to bed. That however would not be the case because as the door clicked shut, a booming voice sounded from the front room, "What time do you call this?".

The sound of her heels clicked on the floor as she walked into the front room where her husband was sprawled on the sofa in a tank top and what seemed to be his underwear. Bottles of alcohol were on the table along with an empty pizza box and the television was on although Maura couldn't identify what movie or show was on the screen. "Ten PM", the woman said softly to her husband.

She realised her mistake as soon as she spoke because his face filled with more anger than it had already been and she quickly decided that she probably should not have answered the question at all.

Ian glared at her and stood up, "You should have been home four hours ago", he stated roughly as he approached her, he didn't take into account the fact that although lectures finished at 18:00 not everything else did. She still had to do paperwork, lecture plans and meetings on occasion. It wasn't always possible to leave at 18:00 and it was never possible to get home for 18:00 despite his beliefs.

The well dressed woman took a step back from the taller man as he approached and soon found herself pressed against the painted wall with him too close for comfort. She knew it was coming. She knew that she would be punished for being home late. As she stood there in her front room in her work clothes and high heels, she knew it was coming.

His hand reached out and grabbed hold of her throat as he pressed her into the wall. Tonight he didn't seem to care that he might leave bruises. Tonight he didn't care if people would see the marks he left on her pale skin.

Doctor Maura Isles' medically trained hands lifted up and went to his wrists to attempt to pry his hands from her slender neck and despite her own strength, she was unable to overpower the man who was inhibiting her breathing ability.


	3. Coffee

**A/N - Apologies for the delay, my updates will not be regular as uni life is a tad hectic at the moment with society stuff, assignments, exams and all that 'fun' stuff...**

 **'Sweetkid45' - I hate Ian too!**

 **'Cecilis' - I will definitely think about it ;)**

 **'cjunited' - I was so tempted to have Jane ride in and rescue her right in that instant, as soon as his hands touched her but... I knew it just wouldn't work :(**

 **'laurenknight13' - hopefully not 'too' hard though**

 **'reddie-forever24' - I always LOVE your reviews! I am aiming to do more BOP ones soon, what do you think? =) I think we need more Kegan right?**

The lecture theatre was gradually filling up when Doctor Maura Isles entered, it was the first lecture of the day so the attendance for the lecture was as per usual lower than it was supposed to be. She removed her long black coat and put it onto the back of the tall chair that sat beside the computer desk before running her hands down the sides of her dress to brush off invisible lint and smooth out wrinkles unseen to the human eye.

Doctor Isles was wearing a mauve dress with a sweetheart neckline, her black high heels contrasted the dress and coordinated with the black belt that wrapped around the woman's middle. Her hair was perfectly arranged as was her make-up but that wasn't anything new for the woman however it had taken her more time than usual in order to get ready. Covering bruises was never an easy task, especially when they were in such a prominent place like her neck. She had used cover up make-up along with the use of a very well tied scarf that matched her dress.

The university lecturer put her bag on the chair and began to log into the computer, switching off the large screens momentarily so that she could navigate her email system and university account to pull up the power point slideshow that she needed for the lecture.

She was very distracted, usually she was saying 'good morning' to various students as they entered but not today. Jane frowned slightly as she observed the woman, although only having known her for a week, she knew something wasn't right. The past week she had grown accustomed to the woman greeting her on sight, she had been working in the lecturer's office and already knew that this wasn't her normal behaviour.

Maura Isles flicked on the screen so that the start of the slideshow would be showing for the students, she straightened herself up and looked around the room. There was a few more minutes before she would start her lecture so she took that moment to glance around the lecture theatre.

A young man that appeared to be in his early to mid 20's was sat in an electronic wheelchair, his hair to his shoulders and with a slightly greasy appearance. He wore relaxed looking apparel with a rucksack attached to the back of the chair.

In the first row, a row that contained simply chairs that were not attached like the others and did not have desks either, was an overweight middle-aged Nigerian woman with a bright pink coat and a scowl on her face as if the world had somehow done her a great wrong within the first few hours of awaking that morning. She had a crutch beside her next to her bag and in her lap was a white lined notebook with scrawled blue handwriting on it. Beside her was another woman who had tightly braided hair and bright red lipstick coating her lips, lips that were moving quite rapidly as she spoke to the other woman.

In the row behind her was an Irish girl in her late twenties with dark blonde hair that had been tied into a ponytail with a slide in the side of her hair to hold back a few strands that apparently had not been cooperating that morning, she wore glasses and had a pen in her hand that she was tapping slightly on the desk as she spoke to the girls in her row. There was a girl beside her dark hair that stretched down her back who seemed to be agreeing with whatever it was that the blonde was saying. There was also a young blonde girl who appeared to be in her late teens and an older woman of around 40 with dark hair.

Multiple students were scattered around the room, they seemed to have formed clusters and spread out in the room. A group at the back were playing on their phones and seemed to be taking photos and videos of each other although Maura could not comprehend as to why they felt the need to do that.

Jane Rizzoli was in one of those clusters. The cluster that tended to sit to the left hand side of the lecture theatre. Jane watched her lecturer observe the room and frowned slightly as she still seemed quite distracted and out of sorts. Maura looked over and her eyes met Jane's, instantly a smile burst onto the older woman's face and it had a slightly calming effect on her to see the dark haired Italian student smiling brightly back at her. It was encouraging to her.

Jane wore her usual dark jeans with a lemon top, her black boots were propped up again on the desk in front of her as she leant back in the chair. She had that infective smile painted across her face that made everyone around her want to smile too. A young man was sat beside her and seemed to be telling the group something that the others seemed very interested in. Jane however nodded at what he was saying whilst keeping her focus on the woman at the front of the class.

"Rizzoli", the man beside her said as he nudged her, "Hey what has your attention...?". The man looked to the front and then grinned, shaking his head.

"Shut it Frost", she said as she connected the back of her left hand to his upper arm, looking at him instead of the woman at the front of the room.

Frost raised both of his hands in a surrender motion, "I said nothing", he claimed with a smirk on his face.

Jane shook her head and turned her attention back to the front as she heard Maura closing the lecture room door. She watched the woman walk the length of the room before pulling out her notebook and pen, then setting them both on the desk in front of her. Her legs remained on the desk, in a rather comfortable looking position and she moved her book into her lap and began to write the unit name at the topic.

Maura began her lecture, some students had put recorders on the desk and others were writing notes although some were doing neither. Some were even on their cell phones and completely ignoring their lecturer.

She was almost fifteen minutes into her lecture on the scope of Forensic Pathology when a group of students decided to wander in late. A few students in the room froze, nervously watching whether or not this lecturer would be the lecturer that actually did what they said and refused access to late students.

Maura had stopped speaking to the class and had turned to the students who were ignoring her and walking in, "You're late", she stated in a firm tone.

A few mumbled to her but none said anything coherent.

"I told you last time", she said recognising a couple of them as the late comers from before, "You cannot enter my lecture hall late, please leave and next time if you know you are going to be late I suggest that you message me beforehand with your reason".

"But...", one of them began to protest.

"The lecture slides will be made available on line after the end of the lecture", she stated firmly and politely.

The students simply groaned and after very little protest, they left. The remaining students had a mix of expression on their faces that ranged from shocked to highly amused. Maura looked around at the room, "My apologies class for the interruption", she said softly, "Now we will resume with the scope of forensic pathology". Her eyes met Jane's and the dark haired woman smirked in amusement at the others being thrown out of the room. Maura couldn't help but smile at the expression on her student's face.

Once the two hour long lecture was over and she had answered multiple questions from students about the assignment that would be coming up soon, she sat down on the chair and let out a sigh.

Not realising that one student remained, "Is everything okay Maura?", the curly haired Italian woman asked as she approached her gradually.

Maura composed herself again and nodded, "Yes Jane, why do you ask?", she asked politely.

Jane smiled briefly, but before she could respond, her name was called from the doorway by Frost. "I better go", Jane said softly to the woman in front of her, "I'll see you after lunch".

The woman nodded, "Yes, I will see you in my office in an hour", she said with a soft smile.

The dark haired Italian woman nodded with a smile, "Would you like me to get you a coffee?", she asked politely.

Doctor Maura Isles shook her head, "No thank you Jane, but thank you for the offer", she said declining the offer for coffee, "I must get to my next meeting, I may be slightly late to the office if the meeting overruns so you may have to use the key to get in if it's locked".

Jane nodded, "Okay, I'll see you in a bit", she said, already having decided that she would still get her that coffee that she had offered because she knew that Maura wouldn't have time to go and get one for herself. Maura appeared as if she needed it more than she was letting on. Coffee would help put a smile on the woman's face.

Frost smiled at Jane as she exited the lecture theatre, "So you got a date with the hot doc then?", he teased with a smirk.

Jane shook her head and laughed, knowing he was joking but part of her liked the concept of dating the woman despite knowing that she wasn't supposed to date a lecturer.

"So where do you want to go for lunch?", Frost asked as they began to leave the main building of the university.

"Bella's?", the woman offered with a slight shrug, indicating to the Italian restaurant across the street from them, they were a family run business and were cheap enough for students to be able to afford but also quick so it was possible to eat there in the hour lunch break that she had. The food at 'Bella's' was delicious too, Jane loved their cannolis too and they did coffee in take-out cups so she knew she would be able to grab one for Maura on the way back to the university building.

The man beside her grinned, "Sounds great to me", he said enthusiastically, he was also clearly a fan of the Italian food cooked within the establishment.

Once they were both seated in the authentic styled restaurant, both opted for pizzas with a bottle of Peroni each.

They sat and spoke about their assignments, the university, their lecturers, sports and everything in between. By the time that they had finished their lunch, it was time for her to head back. Jane ordered herself a coffee to go and one for Maura too. Frost opted to take the safe option and said nothing about the extra cup.

They went opposite ways and agree to meet later in the library to start their group assignment for their other class.

Jane made her way to the woman's office and tried the door once. Finding it locked, she assumed that Maura was in her meeting still and so she slid the spare key into the lock and twisted it in its place.

Stood in the middle of the room was Maura Isles, her back facing to the door, the music was on softly and she was looking into a compact mirror. Her hair was pulled to the side and she seemed to be running her fingers along her neck. Make-up was on the desk in front of her and the scarf had been discarded by the side of it.

Jane closed the door behind her and stood facing the other woman, the sound of the door closing caught Maura's attention and the woman hastily spun around in shock, clearly forgetting that Jane had a key and that she would be returning.

It was then that she saw the true extent of it. It was then that she saw the hand shaped bruising to the woman's otherwise pale neck. It was then that she saw the look of fear in Maura's eyes. It was then that she wanted nothing more than to wrap the other woman in her arms and not let go. It was a strange protective feeling that had overcome her but one she did not embrace in that moment.


	4. Vasovagal Syncope

Jane froze for a moment in shock, many things were flashing through her mind in that time but the two prominent feelings were that first of all she wanted to protect the woman in front of her and second of all was to kill whoever dared to lay a finger on her, or in this case an entire hand.

Doctor Isles stuttered, "Apologies Jane… I seemed to have lost track of time..", she said scrambling to grab the scarf that had been discarded on her desk and picked it up with the intention of retying it around her slender, bruised neck. Her hands managed to grab the silky soft material and reach her neck but as she went to tie it, another set of hands stopped her.

The dark haired Italian student had stepped up behind her and carefully extracted the material from the woman's hands, "Stop", she whispered softly, putting the fabric onto the desk again. The coffee cups had already been abandoned on the desk. Jane's eyes flickered to the door and she stepped away to flick the lock on the door before returning to Maura's side.

Maura was looking down at the carpeted floor, she seemed to have taken on a more submissive pose and Jane sighed as she noticed this fact. "What happened Maur'?", she asked softly, her name consequently being shortened in a soft and caring manner.

The tone of voice and change of name got the woman's attention, she bit her lip as she looked at her student, "I...I…", her breathing became irregular along with her heart rate and suddenly she fell to the floor.

Well she would have fallen to the floor if Jane hadn't put her arms out and caught the falling honey blonde woman. Carefully, she lowered the Doctor to the floor, cradling her in her arms, she then used a jacket as a pillow under the woman's head before getting her a glass of water from the sink in the corner of the office. She returned and knelt by her side, she took a moment to examine the bruising to the woman's neck. "Who did this to you?", she whispered softly as her fingers traced a section of the bruising, the size in comparison to her own hand made it clear to her that a man had done this to her and she sighed, realising that it was most likely her husband. "If he can do this then he clearly doesn't realise how lucky he is…", she said in a soft whisper.

"How lucky who is?", the honey blonde woman mumbled as she opened her eyes to the sight of her student kneeling at her side.

Jane smiled brightly, "Hey sleeping beauty", she commented, "Glad you're back". She helped her to sit up and offered her some of the water straight away, "Here", she said softly, "This should help".

Maura nodded and took a sip, "Thank you", she said softly.

"So…", she said biting her lip, "Are you going to tell me why you passed out?".

Doctor Isles looked up at her curious student and sighed, contemplating not telling her the truth or skirting around it, "Vasovagal Syncope", she said leaning against the side of the desk with the glass of water in her hand. "They can be triggered by a number of factors such as the sight of blood or extreme emotional distress or in my case….", she paused and looked away from the woman in front of her, "...by lying".

"So you pass out when you lie?", Jane asked in order to confirm what she had just been told.

Maura nodded, "Yes", she confirmed simply.

"In other words you were going to attempt to tell me that your husband didn't grab you by the throat hard enough to leave bruising?", Jane said as she watched the woman's facial expressions turn from nervousness to shock.

"He...well...he", her breathing was again irregular as she attempted to lie.

"Stop it", Jane said putting her hands very lightly on the woman's upper arms, "It's okay". One hand went and cupped her cheek, "It's going to be okay", she was trying her best to reassure the woman, "But stop trying to lie because you and I both know that it's just going to result in you being passed out on the floor again". She smiled at the woman as she said the last comment and her left hand remained on Maura's cheek.

Maura felt herself taking comfort from the young woman's hand on her cheek, and she closed her eyes briefly before nodding to what Jane had said to her.

"Promise you won't lie anymore?", Jane asked, "At least not to me… I don't want you passing out again".

The woman nodded, keeping her eyes closed, "Okay", she said simply and softly before opening her eyes and looking at the dark brown eyes that were looking directly into hers.

"Now, I was right wasn't I?", Jane asked gently, "About who did this to you".

She bit her lip, closed her eyes and pressed ever so slightly into the hand at her cheek before answering, "Yes".

The two women were still sat on the floor when Jane allowed herself to do what she had wanted to do ever since she walked into that room, she took her into her arms in one sweep. She wrapped her right arm around the woman and her left hand remained for a moment on her cheek, "Oh Maur'", she said softly, in a voice that was barely even a whisper, she was trying to think of what to do in order to help.

Maura Isles simply let herself fall into the woman's embrace, her hands after a moment came up to grip the back of her shirt and she took comfort in the positive contact.

"You're not...erm…", she paused unsure how to word what she wanted to say, she had pulled back slightly but remained close with her hand on the woman's cheek, the hand seemed to have a mind of it's own and didn't want to leave its position, "You're not going to...stay… are you?".

"Where else am I going to go Jane?", Maura asked looking away for a moment, "It's my house…".

Jane nodded, "Then make him leave", she said making it sound so much more simple, "If you tell the police then they can deal with him and in the meantime...well..".

"Well what Jane?", she asked after a moment of silence.

"I was going to say you could stay with me…", she said softly to Maura, "Then I remembered I live in a studio apartment and that idea probably wouldn't be at the top of your list".

Maura smiled softly, "Thank you for the offer Jane but I can assure you that I will be fine", she said as she leant up to put the empty glass on the desk.

"You're going to be fine as in you'll get rid of that asshole or...", Jane said before being cut off.

"Language Jane", Maura chastised.

The dark haired woman shook her head, "Or you'll be fine as in you don't think he'll do it again".

 **A/N:**

 **Apologies again for delays, the semester is almost over! One presentation and two exams to go (along with few events).**

 **pennyrobinette90 - I agree! I hate him too and would LOVE to shoot his ass ! (When I read your comment I did have an image come through my head of Jane literally shooting Ian in the ass).**

' **Sweetkid45' - I agree! He needs to be shot and nobody should be permitted to put their hands on Maura like that…**

 **Thank you for the reviews; 'Guest' (x3), 'LoveIsles', 'Magicfull', 'cjunited38', 'Sue' and 'KShay89'.**

 **There has been 20 chapters planned for this story… and I will update as quickly as possible between studies and my other stories.**

 **The other stories that I have to complete are;**

' **Jane's Girl' (Rizzoli & Isles)**

' **I Understand' (NCIS)**

' **Crystal Blue' (NCIS)**

' **The Perfect World' (Rizzoli & Isles)**

' **Rubble and Ashes' (NCIS)**

' **Calleigh's Birthday' (CSI:Miami) (ONE more chapter to go!)**


	5. Pretending

Maura had never answered Jane's question that day, Jane, however, was not stupid and she knew that in that moment she was going to have to take a deep breath and leave the subject where it was. Jane decided though that although she would be quiet in that moment about it, she would not drop the topic as she felt an overpowering need to try and help her lecturer as well as a fierce protectiveness towards the injured woman. She opted, however, to observe the woman and keep an eye out for her as much as possible.

Two days later, when they were in Maura's office, Jane was sat on a black office chair with some grey material on the padding and it was on four wheels with the ability to spin which was something that the Italian woman seemed to take joy in.

Maura found herself at times shaking her head at the antics of the young woman as she spun around on the chair or zipped across the room to get something instead of standing up and walking over to it. Doctor Isles was wearing a grey pencil skirt with a cream blouse and a grey neck scarf which had a blue flower design on it. The scarf was simply to cover up the remaining bruise that had been brutally painted across the woman's neck by her barbaric husband.

The woman sat on the currently spinning chair was wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, almost knee-high black leather boots, and a cerulean top. Her hair was in its natural form of slightly erratic waves and curls whilst her make-up was very minimalistic and she was jewellery free.

"Jane? Could you assign these students to this list of time slots please for their presentation assignments, please?", Maura asked gently as she handed over a list of students within the seminar groups for one of her units, "They need to be randomly assigned to the time slots between 10:00 to 13:00, then 14:00 to 17:00 with a ten-minute slot each".

The dark-haired woman nodded as she took the sheets of paper from the woman and put them down in front of her on the wooden table, "You have to sit and watch all of these presentations? That sounds like hell... it must be the same thing over and over again".

Maura smirked slightly and nodded, "It is rather repetitive, however, I am quite lucky as I don't have to watch all of them as there will be other members of staff doing some of the presentation groups too".

Jane nodded, "That's good", she said softly, "What's the topic on?".

"It's a third-year class that have to analyse a case that they choose from a list of five cases", the honey blonde doctor said in return.

"They get to choose their own cases?", Jane asked, suddenly rather interested in the assignment.

Maura nodded as she mentally noted the woman's interest in the assignment, "Yes, they do".

"That assignment sounds a lot better than the ones we've been assigned so far", the Italian woman revealed, " the Third year sounds much more interesting already".

"Well in order to do that assignment, you'll have to take my third-year class on 'The Practical Application of Forensic Pathology' as an optional unit in the first semester", Doctor Isles said with a smile.

Jane grinned, "Well that's one of my units already decided".

Maura could not help but laugh a little at what her student had said, she had not come across anyone as eager as she seemed to study a case file.

A few days following that, Maura was working in her office alone with the door closed when she heard a knock on the door but before she could open it, Jane opened the door and popped her head in, "Good Morning Doc!", she said with a bright and cheerful grin as she greeted her.

Doctor Isles could not help but return the smile to the younger woman, she always found Jane's smiles to be rather infectious and no matter what was happening at home she found herself smiling along with Jane. The scarves were still present around her neck no matter what as the bruising was still rather visible and she knew that Jane would look at her neck when she thought that the lecturer was not looking or noticing, but she did notice and yet said nothing. "Good Morning to you too Jane", she said politely in response.

Jane entered the office, closing the door behind her straight away with her left hand whilst she carried a cardboard tray in her right hand which had two coffee cups situated safely within the grips of the cardboard tray, "I thought you might want some coffee", she said with a smile, "So I stopped at Starbucks on the way and got you a caramel macchiato with soya milk". She placed the disposable travel cup on the teacher's desk beside the woman, "I know you don't usually have that but I remembered that you liked mine when you tried it last time so I thought that this time you might want your own", she said with a smile.

"Thank you Jane", Maura said sincerely, her eyes lighting up as she said it, to anyone else the drink may have been small or even meaningless but to her it was huge. It was huge not only because someone had thought of her or remembered something that she liked but also because of the fact that someone had remembered and somebody had cared enough to do something for her even if it was 'just' a cup of coffee when nobody had done that in a long time. In fact, she could not remember the last time someone bought her coffee or did something just to be kind. "Thank you so much", she said gently in an almost whisper.

The woman shook her head and smiled, "It's just coffee Maur', I didn't bring you a diamond", she commented with slight amusement.

"I know Jane", Maura said softly, "But to me, it means a lot, it's very kind of you to think of me, to remember what I liked, and even more kind to get it for me". "You didn't have to Jane", she finished softly.

"I know I didn't have to Maur' but I wanted to", Jane said with her usual bright smile.

"Thank you", Maura repeated before she took a sip of her drink.

"Oh and also I got you this", Jane said pulling an apple out of her pocket, "To counteract the amount of sugar you said was in those drinks", placing the piece of fruit beside Maura on the desk.

Doctor Isles shook her head with a huge smile on her face, "I appreciate the thought but you know it doesn't quite work like that, right?".

The dark-haired student smirked slightly, "I know", she whispered jokingly, "But we can pretend can't we?".

Maura nodded, "We can", she said softly, realising that is exactly what she usually found herself doing with the younger woman.

Pretending.

Pretending that everything was okay.

Pretending that she was okay.

Pretending that she was not afraid of her husband.

Pretending that she was not scared to go home.

Pretending that she was not injured from her neck being grabbed a few nights previously.

Pretending that she did not have a fresh bruise on her upper thigh in the shape of her abusive husband's right hand.

Pretending that there was not a cut from a glass bottle that had been broken before forcefully pressing into her hip.

Pretending that she was not scared to be late home.

Pretending that she had not in pain.

She did not, however, have to pretend, even though she felt the need to because in reality Jane just wanted to help her, Jane wanted to save her, Jane wanted to get her away from the monster that she had married, and Jane... truly cared.

 **A/N: Thank you all for your patience in waiting for an update, apologies for taking FAR TOO LONG to update, it has been a little hectic and although I will try to update more often, it will still be erratic due to studying my Masters Degree (I started this during my BA course).**

 **sweetkid45 - Thank you for your reviews! That does sound like a good idea ; )**

 **90 - Thank you for taking the time to review, I am glad that you have enjoyed it so far and hope that you continue to do so.**

 **KSHAY89 - I am not sure that Ian would survive very long if either of us got hold of him, especially in reference to this story. I as you can see from this am not a fan of the man... he creeped me out! I was so glad when he wasn't there! Thanks for reviewing!**

 **crime fictition - She definitely will! Thanks for leaving a review!**

 **Guest/s - Thank you for your reviews!**

 **87365241000000000 - Thank you for taking the time to review!**

 **wigtmh - I am so glad that you have enjoyed the story so far and hope that you continue to do so, thank you for your review.**

 **vbbneighbor - I agree, it definitely sucks and I do wish that it did not happen EVER. I am glad that you like the story, thank you for your review. I hope you like the update!**


	6. He Never Did

It was the following week and although nothing had changed with Maura's home situation, Jane found herself observing the woman much more closely over time, and although the honey blonde was aware of it, she found it rather comforting to know that someone cared enough to worry about her and to want her to be safe.

Jane took notes in her lectures and seminars but consciously kept an eye out for Maura, whether it was to listen more carefully to what she was saying or what others were saying to her, or keeping a visual observation of the woman out of the corner of her eye, turning slightly if the Doctor ever left her line of vision.

Doctor Isles found it calming and in the lectures or seminars where Jane was attending, she felt safer than what she did in the ones where she wasn't enrolled in the unit.

The dark-haired woman also observed her during her time working as Maura's assistant although she was not as protective of her whilst they were alone in the woman's office as there wasn't a need for it in her opinion as the risks were lowered.

Maura found herself able to relax with Jane, laughing and joking with the younger woman whilst they were working. She always found herself looking forward to her time with the Italian woman in her office.

Although Jane did her best to protect the woman whilst they were at the University, she continuously felt as if she were failing as she did not have the ability to protect Maura from the biggest danger that she was facing, the biggest threat to her safety, the biggest threat to her life... her husband. The abusive, volatile, alcoholic, unpredictable, and unworthy man that she had married but was no longer in love with. Jane would toss and turn at night in her bed as the worry overtook her and taunted her with images that were the possibilities of the reasons behind the small amount of wounds and injuries that she had seen. She knew that the woman was more injured than she was letting on and that fact haunted her. She just wanted to help her, to protect her, and to kill the idiot who thought he was allowed to harm her.

Maura was sat in her office wearing a pair of black trousers along with a sapphire blue blouse and a pair of black heels. She had opted for trousers to cover the bruising to her leg and a long sleep blouse to cover the handprint mark on her upper arm but she no longer wore a scarf around her neck as the bruising her gone down enough that it was not needed anymore. The lecturer pulled another sheet of paper in front of her, scribbling information down upon it as she glanced at the sheet and then at her screen as she prepared to mark some of the assignments that had been submitted for a recent assignment.

A knock came at the door minutes before her break time but as she went to get up to answer it, the door opened and in stepped Jane shortly followed by another student that she recognised from being in the same classes as Jane; Barry Frost. "Morning Maur', I thought I'd bring you some lunch", she said with a bright smile as she walked further into the room with a bag of take-out.

"Good Morning Jane", the Doctor responded, "Good Morning Barry". "That was very thoughtful of you Jane, thank you", Maura said politely, "But you didn't have to, you know?".

Jane shrugged as she sat down on the sofa that was situated in the corner of the room with an armchair and a coffee table, "I know", she said softly, "But I wanted to and I thought we could have lunch before I start work in...", she looked at the clock on the wall, "...one and a half hours".

Maura smiled, "Well I appreciate it very much Jane", she said softly as she moved to sit with her on the sofa whilst Barry sat down in the armchair.

"I picked up a salad for you", Jane said as she pulled out the container from the bag and placed it in front of her boss, "I got burgers for Frost and me". She placed each of the items in front of them, "Then I got a mix of sides for us all to share", she said as she put a variety of things in the centre of the table.

Doctor Isles smiled brightly, not only had the woman remembered what type of salad that she liked to eat but also had bought extra fries because the last time they had eaten from the same take-out place she had 'stolen' some of Jane's fries although, in reality, the student had given them to her quite willingly despite the false protests that she had made.

"Oh and I also have smoothies", the Italian said with a smile as she placed each of the drinks in front of them.

"How have you been Barry?", the lecturer asked politely.

"Good", he responded once he had finished chewing a mouthful of his burger.

"Are your assignments going well?", the honey-blonde asked him.

Barry nodded, "Sure are", he said with a nod of his head, "I mean, I'm not looking forward to the presentation we have to do for our youth crime and gang culture unit but at least I'm in a group with Jane and that so it shouldn't be too bad".

"Not too bad?", the female student asked with a look of mock horror on her face, "I'm in the group which means it's going to be awesome".

Maura found herself laughing at Jane's slightly dramatic antics.

"Don't laugh Maur', you'd be lucky to be in a group with me", she said with a wink, "And you know it".

Doctor Isles nodded as she nodded, she loved the confidence that her student was portraying in that moment and was rather amused by her antics yet again, "I know", was her simple response.

Jane grinned, "See? At least someone appreciates how awesome I would make any group", she said to Barry before poking her tongue out in a joking manner.

After an hour of laughing and joking as well as eating the delicious food, Barry excused himself as he had to leave in order to meet some of his classmates to go over their preparations that they had to do for their seminar debate.

"Are you okay?", the younger woman asked Maura gently as she shifted slightly closer to her and put her hand on hers, Maura had been silent for a few minutes and staring at the floor which had made Jane worry a little.

Maura looked up quickly but when she realised that it was Jane she instantly calmed again, "Yes Jane", she replied.

"I...", the Italian woman paused, "I'm glad that you don't need the scarf anymore".

"So am I", Doctor Isles responded, "They were quite... irritating".

"I just wanted to make sure that you", she bit her lip gently before continuing, "that you know that I'm here for you... if you need me... any time".

Jane's number was already registered on her cell phone as the woman had given it to her on the day that she had started working for her.

Maura nodded slightly with a very small yet rather sad smile, "I know", she almost whispered without looking up from where her eyes were focused on a random spot on the floor.

The dark-haired student very cautiously wrapped her arms around Maura, tugging her very gently into her embrace.

Doctor Isles froze for a moment but within seconds she relaxed into the embrace and found herself hugging the woman back in return, wrapping her arms around her waist and hiding her face in her neck. She felt safer in that moment than she had in a long time. Jane had embraced her a couple of times before but it had been very brief, this, however, was different.

She sat there on the sofa holding the Doctor in her arms, running one hand up and down her back whilst the other went to her hair. Jane was glad that she had flicked the lock on the door when Barry had left because she had wanted to ask how Maura really was and she did not want someone to walk in if Maura were to become upset or begun to open up to her.

Tears were flowing down Maura's face as she clung to the other woman.

Jane simply held her, reassuring her as best she could, and reminding her that she was there whenever Maura needed her or wanted her to be.

After their lunch break, Maura started marking her papers whilst Jane did some filing and photocopying.

It was almost nine pm when Maura eventually made it home after marking all of the papers that needed to be marked, she had not submitted the markings yet as they needed to be second-marked by another lecturer before they were released to the students.

She turned off the car and put her head on the steering wheel, closing her eyes for a moment as a tear slid down her cheek. Maura picked up her bag from the passenger seat and got out of the car, she looked up at the large house in front of her and sighed heavily. She wanted nothing more than to go back to the University, back to lunchtime, and more importantly back to Jane's embrace. She wanted to feel safe and to feel cared for which was something that her husband did not provide, her home now felt like a prison rather than anything relating to the concept of 'marital bliss'.

Maura walked up to the house, her heels were crunching on the gravel as she took each step. When she got to the front door she pulled out her house keys from her bag but before she had the chance to put them into the lock, the door swung open and the stench of alcohol, aftershave, and sex washed over her making her feel nauseous.

Ian's brutal hand grabbed hold of the delicate material of Maura's designer blouse and pulled her roughly into the house.

Maura gasped in pain and in shock as she was yanked into the house, she dropped her keys outside but managed to keep hold of her bag as she was thrown to the ground instantly. The force of him pulling her into the house had torn her blouse and sent a couple of the buttons flying across the room.

"No, please", the woman begged, "Please stop".

She begged but it was no use, he didn't listen, then again, he never did.

 **A/N: Thank you for the follows and favourites, this story is officially my most followed story so far!**

 **janeandmaura05 - I agree with you. Thank you for taking the time to review.**

 **\- Thank you for your review, I am glad that you have liked the story so far.**

 **sweetkid45 - Thank you so much for your review.**

 **katysgirl - Thank you for your review, I am so glad that you have loved the story so far and I hope that you continue to do so for the remaining chapters.**

 **vbbneighbor - Thank you! I agree, it definitely is the small things that add up. I am glad that you are enjoying the story so far and hope that you continue to do so, thank you so much for the review.**

 **sally rally - I am glad that you have liked the story so far, thank you for taking the time to review.**

 **txsgurl621 - I am so glad that updating resulted in a happy dance! Thanks for reviewing and I do hope you continue to dance!**


	7. Let Me

Jane ran as fast as she could into the hospital ward, so fast that she had managed to make herself out of breath by the time that she reached the reception desk, "I'm Jane Rizzoli", she began, "I'm here to see Dr Maura Isles".

The receptionist nodded at the clearly distressed woman, "Right, one moment", she said before tapping away on her computer, "Her notes say that she's in room 73 and that you can...", she sighed as the woman had already run off, "...go straight through".

Maura had called her from her hospital room when she woke up and so Jane had rushed as quickly as possible straight to the hospital, despite being in the middle of her lecture, she had given an excuse as a 'family emergency' before dashing out of the room, even leaving some of her belongings behind, not that she noticed nor cared. Barry would pick up her things and take them with her to keep them safe anyways.

 _She awoke with the sight of bright lights and a machine beeping, she groaned as she shielded her eyes from the lights before looking around her. Maura realised rather quickly where she was, she was lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip in._

 _When the nurse entered the room, first introducing herself as Nurse Elyse Ponti, she explained that a neighbour had found her unconscious on the floor of her living room, the neighbour had entered the house cautiously with her husband after hearing yelling coming from the house before Ian had stormed out and left the door wide open. They had seen her foot in the doorway but nothing else previous to entering the home._

 _Maura watched as the nurse checked her vitals and the nurse informed her that she had two broken ribs, three fractured ribs, a minor concussion, a fractured arm, and a lot of bruising, most of which were to the abdomen._

" _Phone", was the first word that the injured woman mumbled, "Where's my phone?"._

" _That was brought in with you, your neighbour made sure to give the paramedics your handbag with your phone, purse, and keys inside", Nurse Ponti said with a smile, she moved and retrieved the bag from the side cabinet before placing it on the bed beside Maura._

 _Straight away Maura dove into the bag, pulling her phone from the bag, she dialed the one person that she needed and wanted in that moment, "Jane…"._

"Maura", she gasped as she entered the room at full speed and rushing to the other woman's bedside.

The honey-blonde woman managed to smile for the first time that day, "Jane", she replied softly.

It crushed her heart to see Maura in such a state, her right arm was in a sling and she had a bandage around her head as she lay in the hospital bed attached to an IV drip that the nurse was busy removing at that moment. She looked so small and vulnerable lying there in that bed and it truly hurt to see her hurt. It was in that moment that she realised, she realised that she could have lost Maura that night, she might not have ever been able to see her again, and it was all **his** fault. Jane also realised something else in that same moment. She realised that her feelings for the woman ran much deeper than she originally thought, she had become so much more than just her boss or just her lecturer and instead she had managed to fall in love with the stunningly beautiful Doctor.

As the Elyse left the room, Jane moved closer and sat on the edge of Maura's bed whilst being careful so that she would not accidentally harm her, "Hey", she said ever so softly, "What happened?".

Maura looked down at the bed, suddenly avoiding eye contact before she suddenly burst into tears, "He… he", she did not need to finish that sentence.

 _...Maura fell to the ground, she tried to crawl away but he grabbed her…._

Jane cautiously wrapped Maura in her arms and held her close, she ran her hand up and down her back.

 _...she screamed out for him to stop as she tried to cover her face but it was no use…_

The older woman found herself sobbing into Jane's neck and clinging to her despite the pain she felt in her ribs from the breaks and fractures that she had suffered, although the pain was helped by the amount of pain medication that she had in her system at that moment due to the IV that had previously been attached to her.

She simply sat there and held her as she cried, trying her best to soothe and to comfort Maura whilst trying not to cry herself. Jane could not comprehend why anyone would want to harm the woman that she was currently holding in her arms and especially someone who is supposed to love her, someone that she married, and more importantly, someone that was lucky enough to be married to such an amazing woman.

"I'm sorry", Maura mumbled as she pulled back, "I…".

"You have nothing to be sorry for Maur', nothing at all", Jane reassured her.

Maura simply nodded before moving back into Jane's embrace on instinct, returning to the comforting hold that the other woman had on her as it made her feel safe.

Jane pulled back slightly, much to Maura's displeasure, "Promise me Maur', please promise me that you aren't going back there".

"Where else am I supposed to go Jane?", she questioned, "He'll find me, I know he will", she was scared and it showed very clearly.

" _No!", he screamed at her as he grabbed her suitcase and emptied it out on the bed, "You will_ _ **not**_ _leave me Maura". "You will_ _ **never**_ _leave me", he stated in anger as he turned and suddenly grabbed her, pressing her against the wall, "_ _ **You**_ _are_ _ **mine**_ _and you don't leave unless I say you do"._

 _Maura gasped, her hands desperately trying to loosen the grip that he had on her slender neck, she could not say a word so she simply nodded in agreement._

" _Good", he stated as he let go of her neck and let her drop to the ground in a heap, "Because you_ _ **know**_ _what happens when you don't do as I say", he said, making her shiver in fear._

"You'll come and stay with me", Jane said with determination, "You can stay with me for however long you want".

Maura bit her lip, "I'm not sure Jane", she admitted hesitantly.

Jane's facial features dropped slightly, ready to defend the idea out of the desperate need and want to protect Maura.

"It's not that I don't want to", she reassured her as she reached her hand up to cup Jane's cheek in a caring gesture, "I do, I promise you, I do".

"Then why aren't you sure about it Maur'?", Jane asked softly.

Maura paused, "Because I'm your lecturer and you're my student", she replied.

"So?", Jane questioned, "First of all, you would just be staying at mine because it isn't safe to stay at your house right now". "Second of all, we're both adults, and thirdly? Thirdly, they don't even need to know because it isn't any of their business".

Doctor Isles nodded as she returned to Jane's embrace.

Jane's arms wrapped around her instinctively, "I just want to protect you Maur', please let me?", she pleaded.

"Okay", Maura whispered into the crook of Jane's neck.

"Okay?", Jane said softly.

"I'll stay with you", she said with a smile as she looked up at the other woman, noting the fierce protectiveness that she saw in Jane's eyes as the woman hugged her again.

Maura flinched slightly that time.

The Italian woman looked worried, "What's wrong?", she asked straight away, "Did I hurt you?".

Doctor Isles smiled, "Don't worry, it's just my ribs, they are a bit tender", she admitted, "The nurse told me that two are broken and three are fractured".

"Oh Maur'", she said with a sigh as she very carefully wrapped her in another embrace, "He'll never hurt you again, I promise you that I will do everything I can to protect you".

Without any hesitation, Maura found herself believing what Jane was promising and that alone made her feel safe as well as loved. More than she had felt throughout her entire marriage.

 **A/N: Thank you for all the follows, adding to favourites, and reviews. Only a few more chapters to go!**

 **.90 - Thank you for taking the time to review. Hmm…. killing him? Now that is an idea ; )**

 **Sally Rally - Thank you for your review, Jane kicking his ass is definitely a good idea. She definitely would make a better spouse, wouldn't she?**

 **Aisblac - I agree he definitely is that. Thanks for the review.**

 **Sweetkid45 - Thank you for always taking the time to review. It is so hard to write her being hurt!**

 **Cutetortoise - Thank you for taking the time to review, I am glad that you are liking the story so far.**

 **Katysgirl - Thank you for the kind review, it is very much appreciated. I find myself unable to write her any other way, especially when it comes to Maura.**

 **Barbie7088 - I almost did have her leave the house but unfortunately it would have altered the entire story and despite it being much more positive, I was not sure about how realistic that would seem. Thank you for taking the time to review.**

 **Dreamer - Now THAT definitely is a compliment! I am so glad that I convinced you to sign up, thank you for taking the time to review as well as to register! I am so glad that you are enjoying this as well as my other Rizzoli & Isles stories. I have many more to write once Saving Maura and Jane's Girl have been completed, although I may through in some random one shots in between these. **

**Guest - Thank you for taking the time to review, I am glad that you are looking forward to the next chapter.**

 **Rain - Apologies for the painfulness of the chapter, but I am glad that you like the story, and thank you for taking the time to review.**

 **Dearnoone97 - Thank you for leaving a review! I am glad that you are enjoying the story!**


	8. Whispered Confessions

Maura stepped into Jane's studio apartment cautiously, her steps were slow and it was clear that she was rather nervous. She looked around at her surroundings as she moved further into the apartment.

There was a very small hallway with photo frames scattered randomly along the two walls and a small table next to the door which had a decorative blue glass bowl on the right side of it which Jane threw her keys into, then on the left side of the bowl there was a matching vase with slightly wilting flowers housed within it. Then as Maura stepped into the apartment a little more, she noticed a door to the right.

"Here is the bathroom", Jane said as she opened the door and flicked on the light using a pull switch in order to reveal a bathroom which was decorated with light blue fixtures and had a glass shower door along with a full-sized bathtub and a Red Sox bathmat beside the bathtub as well as a matching rug in front of the toilet. There were also a few random bottles of bathroom products on the side of the bathtub and a few next to the sink along with a container where her toothbrush was standing with a tube of toothpaste.

Maura nodded as she looked around the small bathroom before the door was closed and Jane continued to lead her through to the rest of the small apartment. When the apartment opened up into a larger room, Maura first noticed the television unit against the wall straight ahead of her with a small television sitting on the top of it and a few DVDs poking out slightly from beneath that on a small shelf along with one beside the television. There was then a deep blue rug on the floor in front of it, on top of the plain wooden floor, and in front of that was a slightly tattered sofa with a few mismatched pillows thrown onto it in a randomised order along with the television remote control on the sofa cushion.

When she looked slightly to her right she noticed a large window with dark blue curtains which matched the rug, whilst in front of the window was a large wooden desk with her study materials spread out which showed that she was working on her assignment which was due in approximately two weeks time. There was a small pile of books to the left side of the desk along with a notebook in the centre with two biro pens, three highlighters, and one pencil. In the shelving unit next to the desk was a number of different library books as well as a few different coloured folders, some of which appeared to be stuffed with a variety of papers. Then further to the right, against the opposite wall, was a large double bed which appeared to have Red Sox designed bedding with a bedside cabinet on each side of the bed.

Doctor Isles stepped further into the apartment and looked to the right of the bed, against the wall where the bathroom was sat behind it, there was a small kitchen with everything that a full-sized kitchen has such as a cooker, microwave, cupboards, sink, and small appliances such as a kettle.

"Sorry...it isn't erm...", Jane stumbled over her words, "You know... all that big", she said softly, taking Maura's silence negatively.

Maura smiled brightly in Jane's direction, "There isn't a need to apologise Jane", she replied gently, "It doesn't need to be big, I believe that it is perfect for your use".

Jane smiled in return as Maura looked at the apartment with a smile but more importantly, at Jane.

"What would you like for dinner?", Jane asked her as she stepped into the kitchen area, "I have... pasta? soup?", as she spoke she opened her cupboards before opening her fridge and freezer, "How about we order takeout? Your choice? I need to go shopping so I don't have much in at the moment".

"Take out sounds perfectly fine", Maura said with a smile, mentally she had already decided that she herself would pay for their meal that night, after all, she was staying at Jane's apartment.

"What do you fancy Maur'?", the student asked her before offering options to her, "Italian? Chinese? Indian? Something else?".

"Italian, please?", Maura replied with a smile as she was truly rather fond of Jane's shortening of her name.

Jane found herself smirking, although luckily facing away from the other woman, the idea that her lecturer 'wanted Italian' made her think of something else Italian that she might want other than food, a something which included herself. The event that had led to Maura being briefly hospitalised had also led to Jane being more aware of her feelings towards the honey blonde woman. Once she had schooled her features, she stood back up and moved back towards the centre of the room. "Sounds great", the dark-haired woman said with a smile before she moved to the television unit, pulling out one of the drawers and extracting a few different takeout menus before selecting the correct one. She then moved to the sofa and indicated for Maura to sit beside her.

Maura smiled and sat beside the woman before taking the offered glossy paper menu for the local Italian restaurant, "Do you already know what you would like to eat?", she asked politely as she looked at the various items on the menu.

"I'm going to have this pizza", she said indicating to the correct one, "and then a batch of cannolis because they are delicious, you just have to try them, Maur', I order them every time".

Doctor Isles nodded, "Then I will simply have to then, won't I?", she said with amusement at the enthusiasm that the other woman was showing for the dessert item, "I think I will have the seafood linguine with the side salad".

"Anything to drink?", she asked as she took the menu from Maura and stood to get her cell phone to make the call.

"I think I'll just have a glass of water instead", Maura said softly in response.

It was not long before the two women were sat on the sofa with the television playing softly in the background as they ate their dinners on trays. Both were very comfortable in each other's presence and their legs were curled slightly which resulted in them slightly facing each other.

Once their dinner was completely gone, Jane took their trays to the kitchen and put them both on the side before picking up the white cardboard box from the side and carrying it over to the sofa where Maura was still sitting on it. "Now for the best part", Jane declared with a huge smile as she sat back down beside the other woman.

Maura smiled at the other woman's enthusiasm, she never failed to make her smile, no matter how horrible things were, her enthusiasm and happiness both made her life that little bit brighter. Love shone in the Doctor's eyes in the direction of her student whilst that particular woman's focus was on the opening of the box of dessert items. Doctor Isles felt lucky to know her and even luckier to be sat where she was at that precise moment in time.

Jane turned to Maura with the dessert box in her hand before she picked up a napkin and placed one of the cannolis into it, "Here you go", she said softly before passing the dessert to the woman beside her.

"Thank you", Maura replied softly as she carefully took the dessert from Jane's hands.

The Italian woman picked up one for herself and sat back on the sofa before she began to eat it when she took her first bite, she closed her eyes briefly and let out a moan.

Doctor Isles gulped as she watched the other woman and she found herself biting her own lip slightly as she tugged it slightly into her mouth. She squirmed slightly on the sofa as she watched her take her first bite.

"Aren't you going to eat yours, Maur'?", Jane asked as she realised with a quick glance that Maura's focus was not on her own dessert and she tried to refrain from smirking at the fact that the honey-blonde woman's focus was instead on her and she appeared to be rather flushed too.

Maura seemed to 'wake-up' when Jane spoke directly to her and she nodded before she took a bite of her own dessert but without realising it, she responded in the same way that Jane had with her own dessert.

Jane's eyes went slightly wide and she clenched her thighs together as she squirmed slightly on the sofa and her jaw dropped open slightly before she was able to control herself a little and close her mouth.

When Maura moved the dessert from her mouth there was a smear of cream at the corner of her lips.

Her eyes focused on the cream straight away and she stumbled on her words a little as she spoke, "You... er... have some...", as she said it she indicated to her own mouth.

Maura reached up and attempted to wipe it away but she touched the wrong side of her face so she missed it completely.

"Here", Jane said leaning forward and brushing it away with her thumb.

Doctor Isles reached her hand up to take hold of Jane's wrist gently before she, for a reason unknown to her, took Jane's thumb into her mouth and swirled her tongue around it to take the cream off of Jane's skin.

Jane gulped visibly as she watched Maura and the other woman blushed as she realised what she had done. She found herself wanting to lean forward and kiss her lecturer as passionately as humanly possible but then again she wanted to keep doing exactly that for the rest of their lives. But she didn't. She simply leaned back and continued to eat her own dessert, "I told you that you'd like it", she said with a slight smirk on her face.

Maura simply nodded, resisting her own urge to capture Jane's lips in hers.

A couple of hours later, Maura had been in the bathroom getting ready for bed whilst Jane pulled some blankets out of the drawer that resided beneath the bed before throwing them on the sofa. Once the blankets were on the sofa, Jane began to prop up some of the pillows in order to make herself comfortable as she had already pulled down the covers of the bed for Maura.

Doctor Isles came out of the bathroom and walked towards the bed but then froze as her face contorted slightly in confusion, "Jane?", she called out softly in the small apartment.

"Yeah, Maur'?", Jane replied as she sat up a little more so that she could see over the back of the sofa.

"What are you doing over there?", the older woman questioned as she moved closer to Jane.

"Going to sleep", the dark-haired woman replied as if it were the most obvious answer ever.

Maura raised her eyebrow at her and shook her head, "Then why aren't you in bed?", she questioned.

"Because there is no way that I'm letting you sleep on this sofa", she replied instantly, "You need to lay on something comfortable, especially with your injuries".

Doctor Isles moved around to the front of the sofa and reached out before taking hold of the other woman's hand in order to tug her, forcing her to stand up in front of her, "Well, you're not sleeping on it either", she said simply.

"But...", Jane stuttered a little.

"Bed Jane", was the only response that she got from her slight objection as she was lead over to the bed and tugged into it.

Jane climbed into bed as Maura crawled over it to lay down on the other side of the bed.

"That's better", Maura whispered softly as she tugged the covers up and over the both of them.

Jane found herself silently agreeing as she glanced towards the sofa before back towards at the woman that she suddenly found herself sharing a bed with.

"Goodnight Maur'", Jane said softly as she imagined herself leaning over and pressing a goodnight kiss to the honey-blonde woman's cheek, or better yet, her lips.

"Goodnight Jane", Maura replied with her head resting lightly on her own hand.

It was not long before Maura's breathing evened out as the woman fell asleep, Jane watched for a moment and she reached out as she touched Maura's cheek very softly, making sure that she didn't wake her up, "I think I'm falling in love with you Maur', I've never felt this way before", she whispered, "I promise you that I will do everything in my power to protect you, I'll never let him hurt you again... I don't... I don't understand how anyone could hurt you". She sighed heavily then paused to check that the woman was still asleep, "You are so amazing... so beautiful... so perfect... and yes, I know that you would tell me how nobody is perfect but to me? To me you are", her whispers were spoken but not heard, "Who am I kidding? I don't 'think' that I'm falling in love with you because I 'know' I am... I might even be there already".

 **A/N Thank you to all of those who have left reviews on this story so far, those who have added it to their favourites list, and those who have added it to their subscriptions. You are all fabulous and I am glad that you are enjoying the story so far. Not long left on this one so I hope you all enjoy the end result.**


	9. Morning Light

Maura woke first as the light began to filter through the small gap in the deep blue curtains, she quickly realised that her head did not lay on the pillow as it had done when she had initially gone to sleep, but instead, it was resting comfortably on Jane's chest. Her ear pressed against her in a way that she could hear the soothing sound of the other woman's heartbeat whilst her left leg was over the top of Jane's left leg, almost curled around each other's. She felt safer than she had in a long time as she felt Jane's arms tighten a little around her body and held her close against her. Even in her sleep, Jane was trying to protect Maura from unknown dangers and that fact made Maura smile softly as she lay still in her arms, reluctant to move from her position. She looked up towards Jane's face, keeping her hand on Jane's chest and entwined with Jane's own hand, and she smiled softly as she whispered to the sleeping woman, "I love you, Jane".

Despite still being asleep, Jane mumbled in a barely coherent manner, "ov you to", she squirmed a little in her sleep as she was slightly disturbed but she simply pulled Maura closer and mumbled before falling back into a deeper sleep.

Doctor Isles could not stop the grin that formed on her face as she watched her sleep, those words meant so much to her and she was hoping to one day hear them from her lips whilst she was awake rather than during a sleepy reply. She hoped that the younger woman meant the words rather than them being an instinctive response to her own confession. Unfortunately for her, she had not heard the confession from Jane the night before as she had already fallen asleep, although that had given Jane the confidence to say what she had in that moment.

It was almost an hour before Jane began to wake up, Maura had been laying in her embrace, wide awake, and simply enjoying the feeling of safety and dare she say it, love. Both of which she had not felt in quite a long time and neither of which had she felt since the very start of her relationship with her soon-to-be ex-husband and even then she found herself realising that it had not been as strong as it did now where she lay in Jane's arms. She was, admittedly, rather surprised at where she had found those feelings as she never once expected to find such feelings of love and safety with one of her students but sometimes love appears in the most unlikely of places.

Jane Rizzoli mumbled as she stirred from her sleep and as she awoke she tightened her grip on Maura a little more, although in a way of which did not cause any harm or discomfort for the other woman but quite the opposite as it made her feel even safer and even more loved. The dark-haired woman froze slightly in surprise at their positioning, a little worried that it was something that Maura did not want, and she was also realising that the positioning that she had woken up in was one of the reasons that she had initially attempted to sleep on the sofa instead as she knew that she most likely would not be able to resist the temptation of wrapping the woman securely in her arms and protecting her from the world, no matter what that danger was made up of or what the consequences of facing the danger could be for herself.

Maura felt Jane tense up as she woke and opted to try and put the other woman at ease so she leaned up a little in order to smile softly at her, "Good morning", she said rather cheerfully as her eyes sparkled a little with happiness. She was visibly relaxed as she rested her chin on the back of her hand which was still resting on Jane's chest, although now her hand was on the same spot that her head had previously been laying. The position that they were laying in clearly was not concerning to her and in fact, it appeared that it had resulted in her being more relaxed than she would be otherwise.

The student observed her lecturer with careful consideration as she took note of the woman's smile, relaxed position, and how she could feel their bodies entwined with each other's. She smiled as she came to the realisation that Maura truly was not upset nor was she uncomfortable with how they were lying in bed, "Good morning", she responded with a smile as she kept one arm securely around the honey-blonde woman's waist and the other reached up slightly in order to brush some of Maura's hair back behind her ear before cupping her soft cheek.

Doctor Isles smiled even more brightly as she leaned her head into the other woman's palm, she knew that she would feel quite comfortable with the idea of waking up in that position every day for the rest of her life, and she also knew that she never wanted to lose the feelings of safety, security, peace, and love that she could feel in that moment.

"How did you sleep?", the Italian woman asked with a soft smile without moving from her position or withdrawing from Maura.

Maura smiled, "Very well thank you", she replied quite happily, "How about you?".

"The best that I have in a long time", she said with a smile, not mentioning that she had barely slept at all since finding out what was going on with the woman who was currently partially lying on top of her.

It took every ounce of self-restraint in that moment not to lean up and kiss Jane, her heart craved it so much and the pull towards her lips was almost irresistible, however, in her head she knew, she knew that it would be highly inappropriate to be kissing her student. She also acknowledged the fact that her current positioning also was not the most appropriate of positions to be lying in with one of her students but some would also say that sleeping in the same room and definitely the same bed was also not appropriate. She, however, found herself caring less and less about these facts whilst the attraction of kissing the woman became more and more appealing and the concept of what is and is not appropriate simply faded at an increasingly quick rate as her heart began to overpower her mind. She was in love with Jane and that fact had much more power than anything else.

"How are your ribs feeling now?", Jane asked with concern after a period of silence from the woman, "Do you need me to get your pain meds for you?".

Maura shook her head, "No, that's okay", she said softly, "They're okay at the moment, a little tender but it's not too bad so I'll wait until we get up and then I'll take my pain medication".

She nodded with a smile, "That's good", she responded gently, it was clear in her facial expressions and her eyes that the idea of Maura being in pain made her very uncomfortable and pain reflected within her at the idea too.

Maura nodded in agreement as she moved her position slightly so that she was more comfortable, however, the movement along with the new position had more of an effect on Jane that the Doctor had planned on causing.

Jane bit her lip and tried not to moan as the other woman's movements resulted in Maura's thigh pressing against her centre and inadvertently increasing her arousal that had already been present due to waking with a beautiful woman in her arms, more importantly, the beautiful woman that she had already fallen in love with. Her dream that night had not helped either, it was a dream that she was intending on holding on to, and a dream that she hoped that she would be able to return to, or better yet, to recreate in real life rather than just a dream world.

Doctor Isles shifted and smiled as she rested her head back on Jane's shoulder and sighed, clearly content to lay in her arms rather than to get up. She felt glad that she did not need to go to work that day and she could spend the day relaxing with Jane.

She continued to keep one arm wrapped around the honey-blonde, holding her closely against her whilst the other, of which had previously been on Maura's cheek, was now partially buried in honey-blonde locks. "Erm… Maur'", she said hesitantly as the woman once again shifted in her arms.

"Yes?", Maura replied gently as she lifted her head in order to look directly at Jane.

"Erm… can you…?", Jane awkwardly looked down at where Maura's leg was pressed up against Jane, resulting in a slightly uncomfortable heat growing at an increasing rate.

Doctor Isles glanced down to where she could see that the other woman was looking before looking back up at Jane's face, she could see the effects that she was having on the woman and the concept of appropriate behaviour flew out of the window very quickly as she almost launched herself upwards in order to press her lips against Jane's.

One moment she was asking Maura to move in order for the pressure to be moved so that she could continue to restrain herself and the next moment she knew she was being kissed by her stunningly beautiful lecturer. She did not complain, however, because who would? Instead, she opted to kiss her back and pull her even closer.

Maura fell further into the kiss as she felt Jane kissing her back and increasing the depth and passion of it.

Jane rolled them slightly so that she was hovering over Maura although in a way of which would not aggravate the woman's injuries as they continued to kiss. It was not until air became a necessity that they pulled apart, although they only pulled far enough away from each other in order to take in the fresh air and far enough that they could simply press their foreheads together. "Wow", the darker haired woman found herself whispering with a grin.

Maura laughed softly, "Yes", she replied, "I agree… definitely wow".

She could not resist the temptation and she found herself leaning back down in order to kiss Maura again, in a slower but deeper kiss than what they had participated in the first time.

 **A/N: Okay so I went completely off of my original plan, however, I do believe that this works a lot better than what I had originally planned to write. One more chapter to go! Hopefully, their kiss was acceptable ; ) Once this has been completed there will be more concentration on 'Jane's Girl' and I will also look into updating my other two incomplete stories (as well as adding some one-shots in for a variety of different TV Shows and movies - I am rather enjoying writing shots for The Devil Wears Prada right now (I am totally loving Mirandy!).**


	10. The Bullet

It had been two days since their first kiss and they were both in the car on the way to Maura's house, Jane was driving whilst Maura sat beside her in the passenger seat with her hand resting on the dark-haired woman's thigh.

"Are you sure about this Maura?", Jane questioned yet again, the concern was clearly evident in her voice as she glanced in the other woman's direction.

Doctor Isles nodded, "Of course", she answered softly, "I need clothes, Jane, I can't keep borrowing yours".

Jane sighed slightly and bit her lip, a nervous habit, "But what if he is there?".

"You know I hate sentences that start with 'what if' Jane", Maura said as she sat focusing on Jane, "The police said that they haven't found him yet so that means he hasn't been to the house".

The younger woman still felt very unsure about the visit and it showed in her body language as she pulled up at the house, the wheels making a crunching sound on the gravel of the driveway. She turned off the engine and looked over at Maura.

Maura was sat staring at the house, moments from the last time she had been there started to flash through her mind like a poorly put together horror movie where she was the main star and the images made her feel nervous.

Jane reached out and took hold of her hand, "It's going to be okay", she reassured her, she got out of the car and moved around to the passenger's side door whilst Maura remained stationary. The student opened the door and knelt down beside the car, "Hey", she said softly as she placed a hand on Maura's leg, "I'm going to be with you the whole time, okay? I won't leave you for even a moment".

"Promise?", Maura asked very quietly, her voice barely audible.

"I promise", the Italian woman confirmed with a reassuring smile as she leaned in and pressed a very brief kiss on her lips before standing up but keeping hold of Maura's hand.

After a moment, Maura stepped out of the car and closed the door behind her whilst never letting go of Jane's.

They walked up to the front door together, neither letting go of the other's hand. Maura unlocked the front door before nudging it open, looking around as if to expect someone or something was going to grab her. She wanted to go back to her house to get clothing, she wanted to be back in her house to stay without him but she was finding herself on edge and wanting to leave.

The entrance hall was a mess, the vase that had been on the table at the side was smashed on the floor with the flowers still scattered in the broken pieces but the water had dried up now whilst the table that it had once stood on was now leaning unusually to the side on a slightly busted leg. On the floor were smears of blood that had dried and the smears showed the direction of her body being dragged towards the living room. There was an empty bottle of whiskey abandoned on the floor near the coat closet and a stain nearby where the last of it had clearly leaked out of the cracked bottle.

Jane stepped into the house first, tugging Maura behind her, "Come on", she said softly, "We'll grab some clothes and then we'll go back to mine". "We can watch movies and later on, if you feel up to it, then we'll go out to eat somewhere", she suggested with a smile, "How does that sound?".

Maura was stood just inside the house facing Jane, holding on to both of her hands, "That sounds good", she said with a small smile on her face.

"Come on then", Jane said with a grin, putting on a confident front to reassure the older woman, "Let's go to the bedroom", as she said it she winked in a joking manner.

She could not help but laugh as she followed the other woman up the stairs before leading her into the bedroom. The bed was a mess, the covers were strewn all over the place and there was a smashed whiskey glass to the side of the bed whilst the items that had clearly been on top of the cabinets were all scattered on the floor.

Jane opened up the closet doors, "You have a lot of clothes Maur", she commented, "What do you want to bring with you?".

"I'll only need a few outfits for now", she said as she pulled a case out of the back of the walk-in closet and placed it on the bed. A bed that she had hated for months, she slept only when her idiotic soon-to-be ex-husband was passed out drunk on the sofa downstairs because if he was in the room with her she simply could not sleep at all.

Gradually they started to work together to pack a few outfits for the woman along with the toiletries and things that she needed for her stay with Jane. They hadn't spoken about how long that stay would be but Jane had been adamant that she could stay for however long it was that she needed to.

"I think that's all", Maura said as she finished packing the suitcase, "I just need to grab a few things from my study".

"Okay", Jane replied as she picked up the case, not flinching at the weight of it as she put it down on to the floor.

"Could you take that out to the car whilst I get the things from my study?", the honey-blonde woman asked with a smile as she stepped closer to Jane and wrapped her arms around her waist.

Jane nodded, "Are you sure?", she questioned, "I can wait and take it out once you have your things".

"I'll be okay", Maura said with a smile as she leaned up and kissed Jane lovingly, "Hmm… I love doing that".

"Kissing me?", she asked with a slight smirk.

Maura nodded in confirmation, "Definitely".

"That's good because I plan on doing that a lot now", Jane said with a bright smile as she pulled her in again in order to kiss her much more deeply and passionately.

She had a huge smile on her face as she pulled back from the younger woman, it was the most love she had felt in that house for so long, "I'll see you in a moment", she said with the continuous smile on her face.

Jane nodded and made her way down the stairs with the bag, following Maura down before going out to the car with the case.

Maura went into her office and picked up her briefcase before putting together the things that she would need to work from 'home' as she had some assignments to mark and an article to finish writing. She was crouched down pulling a couple of items out of the bottom drawer to put them into her briefcase when she heard someone come into the room, "One moment Jane", she said softly, "I'm almost done, I just need a few more things".

Doctor Isles did not look up as she put the last item in her briefcase and that was a mistake. She did not hear Jane respond but instead, she felt a hand grab her honey-blonde locks violently and pull her away from the desk resulting in her being dragged along the carpeted floor.

The dark-haired woman was still outside, she had taken the bag out to the car and had moved a few things out of the trunk before putting the case in but just as she shut the trunk, she heard a loud scream. She had been talking to the neighbour when she had heard that awful sound so she turned to the woman who was stood in the neighbouring driveway and in a rush shouted out to call the police.

Jane's eyes went wide and she ran into the house as quickly as she could, she did not care about what danger she herself might find herself in but was more focused on getting to Maura and stopping whatever it was that was causing such a fearful scream.

When she reached the study, where she knew that Maura had been heading to, she was met with the sight of Maura on her knees with Ian gripping the woman's hair roughly. She could see his fist with her locks bunched within it and it was clear that the grip was tight enough to hurt Maura from the look of pain on her face and the way he was tugging at it to make her kneel up in front of him. The horrid looking and clearly drunk man was bending over as he spoke to her with his other hand gripping her chin to force her to look up at him.

"Let go of her", the student demanded straight away, "Let go of her now".

"This has nothing to do with you", he spat in her direction, "I suggest you leave before I make you regret ever interfering".

"I said let her go", Jane repeated with determination.

Maura had tears starting to stream down her face as his grip tightened on her face.

"Who do you think you are?", he challenged Jane.

"That one who's going to stop you", the young woman stated simply.

Ian smirked, "Cocky little madame aren't you?", he said in amusement, "You really think that you're going to stop me? Do you think you have the right to tell me what to do with my own wife?". He let go of Maura's face and reached his arm behind his back, "Well, we'll see about that", he said in a much more cocky manner as he started to extract a gun from behind his back.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", Jane stated calmly as he observed the man's movements and listened to the sounds of the police car coming closer.

"By the time they get here it will be too late for the both of you", he said with his head close to Maura's and his grip tighter than ever on her soft hair causing her head to be moved rapidly in a vicious manner that hurt her neck.

"The police are the least of your worries", Jane stated with a fierceness as she was determined to protect Maura no matter what, it was the woman she was in love with in danger, and she would do anything for her.

When Ian pulled the gun out from behind his back and directed it at Jane with the aim to kill her first as another way to hurt his wife before killing her too, he noticed something that he had not noticed before. Jane had beaten him to it. Jane had a gun in her hand too but hers was pointing at him.

The moment that she saw him flipping the safety off of his gun she fired hers and as that sound echoed throughout the house and the surrounding area multiple things happened at the same time.

Maura collapsed to the ground as Ian suddenly let go of her hair as he had been forcing her upright in an uncomfortable position which made her already injured body feel even sorer than it already had been.

Ian's body dropped to the floor with a thud although partially landing on top of Maura.

And the police charged into the room with their guns raised.

Those moments seemed to happen quickly but Jane managed to put the gun on the table near the door after shooting, she knew that that way the police would be able to take it from there rather than taking it from her. She knew it would give her a chance to move to Maura if she wasn't armed.

Maura was shaking when Jane reached her side, the younger woman pushed Ian's body away and instantly pulled Maura into her arms. Doctor Isles clung to her as she cried into her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay", Jane whispered softly into her ear, "He won't hurt you again". This time she knew that it was a promise that she would be able to keep no matter what as she had ensured that with a singular bullet to the head.

It hadn't all been easy after that, Maura had nightmares quite often and found herself unable to return to the house but after Jane, Frost, and more of Maura's students surprised her with the redecoration of her house she was able to move back into the house. What happened in that home was no longer a secret after what happened on the day of her hospitalisation because of the police presence in the neighbourhood and the search for Ian but when the shooting occurred her students decided to club together in order to pay for the materials to redecorate the house and many of them helped to carry it out too with some cleaning, some painting, some wallpapering, some sorting out smaller detail work, and some even making drinks and food for the workers/students. Jane had ensured that all of the decors would be to Maura's taste by getting magazines and pretending to design a 'perfect house' where she asked Maura what colours she liked in various rooms or what designs she would like in this imaginary house, although in reality, the house was not, in fact, imaginary.

Maura moved back into her home a month after her husband was shot, she was rather impressed with the results of the redecoration and she was touched that they would go to so much effort to make her feel comfortable again in her own home. She was so grateful, especially as she had not thought that she was that popular among her students, so it had all come as a surprise to her.

"So, do you really like it?", Jane asked as they stood in the living room after the other students had left, wanting to check that her ideas of the decor were correct and were in alignment with what the other woman wanted.

Maura looked at her with tear-filled eyes and nodded, "I love it Jane", she said softly as she threw herself into her arms and kissed her passionately on the lips. "Thank you", she lovingly, "I love you".

"I love you too", Jane said back with a smile before kissing her again but a little slower and a little deeper than the previous kiss.

When Maura pulled back she smirked slightly, "You know despite how amazing you all were, I still can't cancel the test next week, right?".

"Damn", Jane said jokingly, "And there I was thinking that we could throw a bit of paint around and get out of that tortuous thing".

Maura simply laughed and shook her head before returning to her embrace.

Although they had had to disclose their relationship to the Dean of the school, it made no difference to them other than Maura being unable to mark Jane's work anymore which did not matter to them at all. Maura continued to teach the same classes whilst Jane eventually graduated with top marks.

Jane walked through the archway after receiving her certificate on stage and listening to the various speeches from the staff members, although, truth be told, she only listened to Maura's.

The lecturers were lined up on either side in order to be able to congratulate their students and Doctor Isles had been shaking her students' hands but when Jane walked past she opted to pull her close instead before kissing her passionately. A few whistles sounded from around them when the others realised what was happening. When Maura pulled back she said softly, "Well done Jane, I knew you could do it".

"Hey, Doc?", one student called out, "Do we get one of those too?".

"Oh hell no", Jane said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow as she glanced over at the student in question and pulled her girlfriend closer, wrapping her in her embrace.

Maura simply leaned into Jane, hugging her back for a while before she had to go back to her duties although not that the students minded that she was occupied. "I love you", she whispered to the dark-haired woman.

"I love you too Maura", Jane said just as quietly back with a huge smile, "so much".

 **A/N Thank you to all of those who took the time to review, follow, and add this to their favourites. I just have 'Jane's Girl' (an estimated 14 more chapters), 'I Understand' (an estimated 8 more chapters), and 'Crystal Blue' (an estimated 5 more chapters) to complete although this is the last chapter of 'Saving Maura' there is a possibility of some one-shots if people would like them.**


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